Walter Lantz Productions

Africa is a 1930 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon directed by Walter Lantz for Universal Pictures. Oswald goes on a big-game hunting expedition in Africa, encountering lions, elephants, and other jungle animals in a series of gags. Portions of this short were reused from the film King of Jazz, where they were originally colored in two-strip Technicolor. As a 1930 work, the film entered the U.S. public domain on January 1, 2026.

Animation · Comedy

A boy and his dog romp through a Technicolor musical fantasy extolling the joys of pet ownership, originally produced as a sponsored short for Ipana Toothpaste. Walter Lantz directed this Castle Films home-movie perennial. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Jungle Jingles is a 1929 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon directed by Walter Lantz for Universal Pictures. The short features Oswald in a jungle setting with musical sequences, part of the early sound-era Oswald cartoons produced by Lantz after he took over the series from Walt Disney. As a 1929 work, the film entered the U.S. public domain on January 1, 2025.

Animation · Comedy · Musical

Making Good is a 1932 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon directed by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan for Universal Pictures. It is the 57th Oswald cartoon produced by Lantz's studio and the 110th overall. The short features Oswald in a series of gags and adventures. The film had an original copyright notice but was not renewed, placing it in the public domain. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Pantry Panic is a 1941 Woody Woodpecker cartoon directed by Walter Lantz for Walter Lantz Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures. The third cartoon in the Woody Woodpecker series, it features Woody facing a hungry cat during a harsh winter when food is scarce. The short is notable as one of the few early Woody cartoons where he does not say "Guess Who?" in the opening titles. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat is a 1941 animated short from Walter Lantz Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures. A boogie-woogie playing laundry woman inspires a sleepy town's inhabitants to clean up and dance. The cartoon is a swing-era musical with the popular boogie-woogie sound of the early 1940s. Like many cartoons of the era, it contains racial stereotypes that reflect the prejudices of its time. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy · Musical

The first of four Mr. Hook cartoons made for the US Navy to sell war bonds. Set in 1953, sailor Hook tells his young son how buying bonds a decade earlier helped him defeat a Japanese fighter pilot attacking his aircraft carrier. The only Hook short produced at Walter Lantz Productions — in Technicolor — before the series moved to Warner Bros., and the only one directed by James "Shamus" Culhane, with Dick Nelson voicing Hook. A US government film in the public domain; like much wartime propaganda it trades in the racial caricatures of the era.

Animation · Comedy · War

The Bandmaster is a 1931 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon directed by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan for Walter Lantz Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures. Oswald leads a marching band through a series of musical gags and surreal sight gags, showcasing the Keaton-like physical comedy that characterized the Lantz-era Oswald cartoons. The short features animation by Clyde Geronimi, Manuel Moreno, Ray Abrams, and Tex Avery. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy · Musical

The 1931 sound reissue of the 1927 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short, re-released by Walter Lantz Productions after Lantz took over the Oswald series from Walt Disney. The original silent cartoon was fitted with a synchronized music and sound effects track to compete with Disney's sound Mickey Mouse cartoons. Oswald the trolley conductor packs his car with passengers, battles a cow on the tracks, uses a goat to climb a hill, and then loses control on the way down. The reissue was published in the United States between 1929 and 1963 and the copyright was not renewed, placing it in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy